Damned, but Damn You Too
by Sychronergy
Summary: When the ability to see the dead jeopardizes his sanity, only Neji could help. Unfortunately, one does not simply help. Sasu/Neji. AU
1. Haunted

**Title**: Damned, but Damn You too

**By**: Sychron

**Setting**: AU, Modern day. College Fic.

**Pairings**: Excruciatingly slow SasuNejSasu. Maybe others, mostly M/M.

**Summary**: When the ability to see the dead jeopardizes his sanity, only one person could help.

* * *

"Your medical files report severe hallucinations."

Silence answered him.

"Can you tell me anything about them?"

"Yes, I can," replied Sasuke Uchiha. He watched the phantoms flit over the office walls. Sometimes, they would pause, as if staring back at him.

The doctor, supposedly a specialist from Kumokagure, looked at him, and his bulbous lips curled piggishly into the man's definition of a smile. Yanamato righted his pen, ready to take notes. Sasuke regarded the forty-something, balding psychiatrist with disinterested eyes. His arms weren't crossed, because crossed arms signified defensiveness, and he sprawled back into the chair with a forced carelessness.

"Not that I'm going to," said the Uchiha heir.

"You may think no one will understand," said Yanamato. "But I can understand you."

"I see," said Sasuke.

Yanamato's incredible lack of patience was astonishing for someone of his profession, Sasuke thought.

"Listen Sasuke," said Yanamato. He tried to convey excitement. "Talking gets stuff off your chest. I'm here to listen. I'm here with professional opinions that can change your life. I'm here to help."

Sasuke paused, as if considering, "That's directly quoted from the sixth edition of the _Psychiatry: A General Manual_ by Hugosen, isn't it?"

Not taking the hint, Yanamato continued to treat Sasuke as a child. "If you say it out loud, I'm sure those monsters will leave you alone."

"You speak as if I am bothered by those _monsters._" Sasuke added 'those' with a small jerk of his head, as if the monsters in question existed. The doctor fell for the trap.

"So you see monsters?" Yanamato asked, mockery barely concealed behind false concern.

"T-bone steak knife," said Sasuke. "How do you think it feels like to stab yourself to death with one?"

Yanamato raised an eyebrow. "What."

"There was a man, a doctor, who was cheating on his wife with a patient. His wife told him she will kill herself if he doesn't stop," said Sasuke. His voice was bland; he could have been reciting a memorized manuscript with that tone. "But he didn't stop, did he? He continued cheating, and one night, he went home to his wife's dead body."

Yanamato stood up, eyes blazing. "Enough!"

Sasuke continued, allowing anger and resentment get better of him. "She stabbed herself to death with a steak knife. At first, the knife was vertical, so she had to twist the knife in her own body to reach her heart. Two years later, the man married the patient. Four years later, he moved to Konoha. Nineteen years later, the man asked me, 'So you see monsters?'"

Items clattered as it fell to the ground, and beefy fists slammed on the desk. The doctor's face was red, swelling with anger, "Get out."

"To answer your question," said Sasuke. The eighteen-year-old stood up. "- Yes, I see monsters."

Sasuke strolled to the door, sliding a hand into his pocket as he opened the door and walked out. Behind him, he heard the sound of paper ripping and glass shattering. The man was probably tearing the framed pictures of flowers and peace from his wall. Security guards, alarmed by the noise, were rushing to the room.

Sasuke smiled hollowly.

Since the day his parents realized their son saw and loved a dead brother for eight years, they sent him to a psychiatrist for a yearly evaluation along with his medical checkup. Every year, Sasuke left a destroyed doctor in his wake. With the technologies granted to him by his father's corporation, it had been easy to find all the hidden skeletons. Itachi, his deceased brother, would have been proud.

He needed a distraction, he thought sourly.

* * *

'Where are you?' Sasuke texted Naruto.

'Sunst Lung,' Naruto Uzumaki immediately texted back. Before Sasuke could ask for a clarification, Naruto sent him another text, 'Sunset Lounge*'

Sasuke had no clue where that was. He was still unfamiliar with the Konoha's college district, having only moved here the last week for school. He headed toward the general direction of the library, impervious to the clattering of nurses and doctors.

Ten minutes later, and two wrong turns later, Sasuke was greeted by an enormous circulation desk, and lined book shelves. In the middle, a grand spiral staircase led up to the second floor. He couldn't see a map. He debated texting Naruto for directions when a kind looking girl with long, red hair smiled at him.

Sasuke walked up to her, careful to put a polite smile on his lips, "Would you happen to know the direction to Sunset Lounge?"

To his relief, the girl didn't try to push herself up against him, touch him back or bat her eyelashes at him. She greeted him with a curious tilt of head, and a distant look. "Yes. It's a long way from here, but I can lead the way, since I'm going there myself."

Sasuke nodded gratefully, "Thank you."

"My name is Mei Terumi," said the girl. She smiled again. They started walking.

"Sasuke Uchiha," said Sasuke. He hoped that was the end to their conversation.

It wasn't, or maybe she just had to have the last word. "It's a good name."

They were in a darker part of the library now. Fewer humans walked by. The shadows were more consistent, flickering along with the dimmer light. Sasuke narrowed his eyes. The library was huge.

Mei glanced at him, "You're a good looking guy."

Sasuke looked at her, raising an eyebrow. Why did it always come to this? If she advanced, he would act a little amused, give a curious tilt of head, and reject the advance. He had plenty of practice with the act. At the moment, he gave a bland compliment in reply, a clear brush-off, "I admire your forwardness."

She giggled.

Fifteen meters away, Sasuke could see a door, 'Sunset Lounge' in block letters above the door. Naruto waved from underneath it, his blond hair flying in the air was he ran over.

"Damn, Sasuke-_teme_, you sure took your time," said Naruto. He glanced at his watch. "You texted me seventeen minutes ago."

"Great room to pick," Sasuke bit out. "It takes ten minutes to get here from the entrance."

Naruto smirked. "Poor Sasuke, you coulda just took those stairs."

Naruto pointed to a large spiral staircase. Sasuke recognized it as the one he saw in the lobby.

With a growl, Sasuke turned to question the girl that led him on the detour. No one was next to him. The fluorescent light reflected from the cracked wall to the empty ground next to him. Sasuke ignored the rising sickness in his stomach. Some part of his mind refused to accept the fact, while another prepared for action.

Naruto blinked in confusion, "You okay, man?"

"Did you see where that girl walking with me went?" Sasuke was tempted to run his hand through the air next to him to confirm the lack of a body.

"You were walking alone the whole time," said Naruto. The man gave him a questioning look, uncertainty in his voice.

Sasuke felt goose bumps rise on his skin. His mind clouded with the need to concoct a quick solution to Naruto's answer and justify his own panic. The more sadistic part of his mind taunted that perhaps Naruto was also fake.

"Of course, _dobe_," he answered with a smirk, digging his nails into his palm to keep focused. He was good at self-control. "You mean you don't get what I said?"

Naruto took a minute to think. He finally reached the conclusion Sasuke knew he would draw.

"Oh, you _bastard. _So you took your sweet time with a detour because some cute tail snuggled up."

Sasuke offered a small smile.

"So how was the doctor?" asked Naruto. Any lack of vocal response always drove Naruto to change the topic. The man had a short patience span.

"Unpleasant." Sasuke released the breath he realized he was holding.

"You business people, and the need the psychoanalyze everything," said Naruto. "I still can't believe your parents demand an IQ test every year."

Sasuke told anyone who knew, namely and solely Naruto, that his yearly visits to the doctor was for an IQ report.

As they walked into the Sunset Lounge, Naruto waved to their group of friends. Kiba Inuzuki, Ino Yamanaka, and Sakura Haruno waved back. When they approached the table, the three scooted back and made space. Sasuke sat next to Ino, who was once again absorb in her cell phone.

"You guys would never guess why this loser was so late," said Naruto. Beside him, Sasuke tensed. Sasuke rolled his eyes for the effect, in case anyone was looking at him.

"He got lost," said Kiba. He looked up carelessly from the magazine he was flipping through.

At the same time, Sakura gave Naruto a friendly smack over his head. The movement was enough to shift the center of attention from Sasuke's delayed arrival to Naruto's shenanigans. Sasuke reminded himself to treat Sakura better in the future.

"Ow! Whaddaya do that for?" Naruto gave an exaggerated grin, seizing the opportunity to snatch Sakura's hand and secure it to her waist, accidentally-on-purpose brushing against her stomach in the process. He gave a mischievous grin.

The group fell into its usual bickering. Sakura and Kiba were Naruto's most supportive friends, but they would never let an opportunity to tease the blond slip. Naruto took it good-naturally. Sasuke pretended to smile at normalcy of the activities. He scanned the room. Part of his mind nagged him about the frightening possibility of seeing yet another mirage. He wouldn't be able to handle it. Sasuke reminded himself that as long as he didn't initiate contact or acknowledge them, the dead wouldn't bother him. A flash of black caught his eyes. Turning his vision to the entrance, he saw Neji Hyuuga, entering the room with Hinata Hyuuga beside him.

Sasuke felt a familiar defensiveness grip his body, new tension overriding his previous tension. He was extremely wary of the Hyuuga, because he knew of the man's ruthlessness nature. But Naruto _insisted_ on befriending Hinata, and along with her, her cousin. Sasuke warned Naruto that befriending Neji was akin to swallowing honeyed cyanide. Naruto didn't understand the reference.

Sasuke turned back to the table.

Naruto had Kiba in a headlock on the table while Ino watched the exchange. Sakura threw him curious glances. He offered her a small nod, something he would never have offered three years ago, when she pursued him. She smiled back, and they turned to the two scrabbling.

"Dude, I will get you back for that. Just wait—" Naruto broke off, a wide smile spreading over his lips as he looked up and noticed the approaching Hyuugas. He released Kiba. "Your girlfriend's coming over right now."

"She's not my girlfriend," Kiba automatically replied. His fingers twitched slightly and Sasuke noticed a not-so subtle attempt to fix his collar.

Naruto gave an energetic wave as Hinata and Neji walked over. Kiba moved over to make room, and Hinata took a seat after a gentle, reassuring push from her cousin. Neji remained standing, shaking his head slightly at the offered seat.

"You're not staying, Neji?" said Naruto. Neji was one of Naruto's favorite friends, because the Hyuuga prodigy would help him with schoolwork whenever Naruto asked.

"I have some work to do," said Neji. He offered an apologetic smile.

"Dude, you're always busy," said Kiba. Kiba was also overly fond of Neji, possibly because of Hinata. "Kinda forgetting that you're just nineteen, and still got years ahead of ya."

"I have much to learn," Neji ducked his head shyly, allowing a few strands of silky hair to curtain his face, as if to hide a light blush. It was a mendacious performance.

"Uchiha-kun is rather quiet," said Neji, diverting the topic. He gave a small smile at Sasuke's direction. It was slightly unsure, and infinitely kind.

"Hn," Sasuke internally rolled his eyes. It was really impractical of Neji subject him to the same empty politeness, when he could hear the mockery beneath each word.

"He's always like that," said Naruto.

_Good excuse_, thought Sasuke.

He nearly sighed in relief when Neji's gaze left him, and the long-haired businessman turned to leave the room. Artificial personality aside, Neji's disturbing eyes reminded Sasuke of things no longer alive. It was not a reminder Sasuke needed, especially not right now.

"Excuse me," said Sasuke. The words were half-genuine, half-sarcastic. He had to be alone to gather his thoughts.

"You sure you're alright?" Naruto grabbed his sleeve again. Sasuke could see real concern in Naruto's eyes.

"Of course, you silly dobe," Sasuke smiled. He could easily find reasons to excuse himself, because everyone knew Fugaku was unforgiving about lateness. "I forgot I had to preview a new product blueprint by tonight."

Naruto's deposition suddenly changed, "Oi! _Teme_, you're going to pull that 'Too busy because I'm a workaholic' on us too?"

Sasuke gave a small shrug. He forced himself to walk casually from the table. In truth, he stung over Naruto's last comment. He was always compared to the Hyuuga. The media often showcased the two together, pitting them as fierce rivals. Neji's white eyes haunted his ambitions, as well as his dreams. It was almost as bad as his _hallucinations. _

Once he was in the hallway, the Uchiha heir pulled out his cell phone, and opened a classified search engine. A few clicks told him Mei Terumi had been murdered in Konoha Library three months ago, in the public bathroom on the fourth floor. Someone slit her throat with a razor blade, before disfiguring her face. Scrolling down the page, Sasuke found a picture of the dead girl, lying in a pool of her own blood, eyes gazing insidiously at the camera.

Sasuke closed his eyes to block out the image, but he couldn't shake the image of Mei Terumi from his mind. Distantly, his mind went back to the empty ground. He was a mere three meters away from where Mei disappeared into thin air.

Alone in the hallway, Sasuke was afraid that if he opened his eyes, a pair of very dead eyes would stare back at him.

Yanamato's question mocked him, _So you see monsters?_

* * *

**A/N:** Gosh, the first version of this story was horrific, once I reread it with a critical eye. The plot was all over the place, and the flow was disruptive. There were so much back story, fillers, rushes, drags, and awkward moments. So I reworked it. Believe me, I really want this story to work out. I'm positive this new version is at least 100% better in terms of ...well, everything. _  
_

I'm sorry for all the changes on this one story. u_u

What do you think?


	2. Insidious

**Thank you **_to those taking their time to read my work, and a even bigger thank you to those who reviewed!_

* * *

Sasuke was in a bathroom, if the sinks, stalls and mirrors told him that much. But he was in a girl's bathroom. A polished girl's bathroom with black marble walls and gray floor. Stylish, and a little dreary. It looked vaguely familiar.

He looked up to the mirror. Surprised.

Mei Tekumi's face stared back at him. She stepped closer to the mirror, and he felt himself move. She washed her hands, and he could feel the lukewarm water on the hand. He could feel the soft velvet of her skirt and the cotton shirt under her hand as she straightened out her clothes.

"Tonight's the big night," Mei whispered. Sasuke felt an exhilarated shiver.

The bathroom door opened, and Sasuke saw two girls step in. One was burly; she resembled a female bodybuilder. The other was slender, an unconventional beauty with wicked eyes.

"Hi bitch," said the unconventional beauty.

"Hi," said Mei. She addressed the girl as Karin in her mind. Sasuke felt the nervousness build up in his body, fingers trembling as she moved her hands behind her back to hide it. "I like your audition."

"The judges didn't, though," said the other girl. She had a chilling a look in her eye, one that read: I will win. "But I can improvise."

"R..really?" answered Mei. Sasuke felt himself inch toward the door. Mei walked past the two girls. She was definitely frightened now. Sasuke could feel her emotions coursing through him. "I'm glad you can."

"Now."

The burlier girl grabbed him. She gripped his wrist and Sasuke felt himself sinking to his knees, wrist twisted behind his back. Sasuke wanted to kick away; this was a hold he could easily break with his years of martial art training.

But Mei never had martial art training. She knelt on the ground, struggling fruitlessly. The marble floor was cold beneath her knee, and she was slightly self-conscious about the way her skirt hitched way above her thigh. Sasuke thought skirts were an unusual experience.

"W..what are you doing?" Sasuke felt the panic flow through her body, uncontrolled. _Don't panic, _Sasuke wanted to tell Mei. Sasuke would never panic, but Mei wasn't Sasuke. The infusion of the two personalities was uncomfortable.

"Improvising," said Karin. The tone was limpid. She pulled out a switch blade. The girl behind Mei held her tighter as she struggled harder. Sasuke could feel the surprise and the unadulterated fear. Mei's eyes were wide with fear. She threw her head back to try to bite the girl behind her.

If only Sasuke was actually in the scenario, and not reliving a dead girl's last moment, he thought. He could have easily twisted his knees free and kicked the blade from the girl before using the momentum to throw the other girl off. In fact, Sasuke could imagine seven ways to break the girl's hold right off the top of his head. Mei didn't know what to do.

"I'll let you win," said Mei. The words came out in a rush. Sasuke felt her praying, the words running through his head. "I'll withdraw from the contest. "

The cut came with lightning speed. It was a violent cut that swept through the Carotid Artery, Jugular Vein, and Trachea at once. The blade touched bone, and Sasuke felt the scrape. Mei stared at the blood gushing from her throat in horror. She wanted to reach up to stop the blood from streaming, but the burlier girl didn't let her. The pain was extraordinary, like white-hot iron and the smell of blood was agonizing. The warmth seeped over her blouse, and stained her skirt. The blood was hot. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, and no sound came out.

Karin was drawing angry lines across her face now.

Sasuke felt every lash. He could feel the detached skin, the warm blood pouring from the throat, drenching the shirt. He felt everything the dying girl felt.

Sasuke screamed, and realized he could scream.

* * *

"They found you," said the doctor, "passed out in the hallway."

Sasuke stared at the man, hands reaching up immediately to grab his throat. He was in a bare hospital room, with light green walls. Sunlight fell from an opened window, and a vase of plastic flowers stood on the bedside drawer. It was a relaxation room, for overnight patients, or patients with no injury.

"I didn't sleep well last night," replied Sasuke. He reached his other hand up to his neck, relieved to feel intact skin, relieved to feel his muscles pull as he spoke. He kept his hand there.

"That's what your friends said," the doctor agreed. "You're prone to nightmares?"

"Sometimes."

"Very well," the doctor smiled. "You checked out perfectly fine, physical health-wise. I would recommend a psychologist for your nightmares if they persist. You should stay another hour, and then you can go."

Sasuke nodded, loving the way the unscathed muscles pulled at the movement. The agony of a slit throat was something Sasuke never wanted to go through again.

As the doctor exited the room, another figure came in.

"I'm here to visit my friend," said a smooth voice. Hyuuga.

_Better than being alone_, though Sasuke. Neji didn't bang the door shut. His hand followed the door until it almost shut, and then turned the knob as it closed. He released the knob.

Hyuuga looked distressed and sympathetic as he walked over. "Naruto's shift started, so he told to visit you. Are you alright?"

His voice was lightly tinged with worry.

"Yes." For the effort, Sasuke threw him an even glare. Again, Neji's false concern was impractical.

The white eyes blinked back innocently, and Neji tucked back a strand of hair. The adrenaline that gripped him came, but it was quieter, more expectant. Neji usually never bothered with his usual façade when they were alone.

"But you are not here for a mawkish display of kindness, are you? I will throw you out," said Sasuke. He removed his hand.

In front of him, Neji's mask fell. All traces of emotion disappeared until Neji's face was blank, bored marble complexion flanked by arrogant cheekbones. His eyes swept for hidden cameras in the hospital room, "No, you wouldn't want that."

"They're getting more aggressive," said Sasuke. His eyes closed briefly. "I usually don't …see them in human form."

His hand returned to his neck, relieved again at the undamaged skin. Neji was watching him, he knew.

"My offer stands," said Neji.

Sasuke pretended to ponder. "Until I know exactly what you get out of helping me, I wouldn't trust you."

"You don't trust the goodness of my kind heart?" Neji enjoyed bantering, mocking. His eyes, which Sasuke could now see were lavender, gleamed.

"Not without a stake through it," said Sasuke. He allowed himself a friendly smirk. The hand fell back to the sheets.

"I'm curious," said Neji. He didn't bother with using his fingers to tuck back his hair now; he simply tossed his hair back in a decidedly vain move. "Why you act as if I carry a terrible strand of Anthrax when I speak to you in public, but treat me as, dare I say, an acquaintance in private."

It wasn't a question.

_It's the eyes_, Sasuke thought. When Neji wore his mask, his eyes were insidiously white, something that drove Sasuke's defense mechanism haywire. Now, in private, it was softened lilac.

Neji's cellphone rang. Glancing at Sasuke, he answered it. His voice was honeyed and polite again, without a trace of its former sincerity. "Yes, Naruto. He's fine; Go back to work."

He smiled, and it didn't grace his shrewd eyes. A small laugh that sounded real. "Yes, I'll get along with him. Bye."

"See, that's why I hate you," said Sasuke. The familiar defensiveness rose.

"Why," Neji was amused. "Because while we're both cold-hearted bastards, they all treat me like a gentleman?"

"Something like that." Sasuke moved his legs to the side on the bed, indirectly offering Hyuuga a seat.

"You want me to stay," said Neji. He sat, pulling a leg up. The movement, while graceful, had none of Hyuuga's usual reserve. The image created was damascening. "So you must want something from me."

"Why are they getting more aggressive?" A blink.

"I don't think they're getting more aggressive," answered Neji. "Your eyes are just developing. So you see more."

Of course, his eyes and the cause of his problems: the Sharingan. A mutant gene that had been recessive to his family for over a century. Sasuke pointedly looked at the window.

"Was she that beautiful?" asked Neji. Sasuke looked at him; Neji's head was tilted with genuine curiosity. "The ghost you decided to break the most important rule for."

_The most important thing is to never acknowledge them._

"No, I just thought she was human. And I was lost," said Sasuke. He didn't question how Neji knew the dead girl was female.

Neji smirked.

"They're usually in human form," said Neji. His voice was quiet now. His posture was a little tenser than his usual insouciant curve. "You only see the shadows because your eyes are not fully released."

Sasuke looked at Neji's eyes. Neji shared the same esoteric ability, he knew. But Neji could control his powerful eyes, the _Byuugukan_, perfectly. That, too, was part of the reason why Sasuke disliked Neji.

Neji seemed to think he said too much.

He stood and Sasuke could see the mask sliding back in place.

"Wait."

Neji waited.

"I saw," Sasuke lapsed. "Her name was Mei Terumi. I saw— no, felt, how she was killed. I was there, in her body."

Neji gave him a scrutinizing look. It swept down from his eyes, onto his neck, to his body, steady and meticulous. "You are not lying."

Any man but himself would have flinched or flushed unpleasantly, thought Sasuke. He returned the look, and added a haughty tilt of head. "No."

Neji sat down again. "This isn't the first time it happened, is it?"

Sasuke shook his head. He didn't remember the first, but the most recent, aside from Mei, was Yanamoto's wife. He felt the T-bone steak knife drive into his own body before he sat up from his bed, panting and sweating.

"How did you know?" he asked Neji.

Neji was amused again, "You wouldn't have told me without years of considering the idea of it."

Sasuke threw him a slanted look. "You are right."

"Is there anything I can do?" said Neji. He spoke hesitantly, almost unsure of himself. This time, Sasuke had a distinct feeling it was real.

"Not really."He felt a slight weight lift from his body. He wouldn't trust the Hyuuga, but he was thankful for someone who could understand his circumstance.

"Need a night-night? Teddy-bear?" With Neji, gratitude was always misplaced, he corrected himself wryly.

But Neji was smiling. A real smile, which on Neji, simply translate to a tamed version of his better-than-everyone smirk.

"You'll be the first person I tell if I ever do," said Sasuke. "You're dismissed now."

Neji's eyes flashed at that. "I come and go as I wish, Uchiha."

Sasuke watched Neji leave with nonchalance.

* * *

That night, he dreamed again.

Each dream was more disturbing than the next, because he knew what always happened in the end. Sometimes, he was a woman, about to be hung. Another time, he was a man, clubbed to death. Each time, he felt the pain as if it was his own. He couldn't breathe anymore. Maybe, he didn't want to, because asphyxia felt a lot less painful.

He didn't want to-

He'd rather not breathe.

Or maybe he was out of breath.

"Sasuke Uchiha." Someone was calling out to him.

He ran to the light, trying to escape the draw of his soul to yet another moment of death.

The shadows chasing him were rounding in on him now. Any moment, and the knife would reach him. Sasuke knew he shouldn't have own the mobsters money; damn that gambling habit.

"Sasuke Uchiha." The voice was more urgent.

He hid in an alleyway, the stench of garbage invading his sense. Something grabbed him from behind, a sharp pain spreading from his abdomen.

Sasuke woke up. He was sweating profusely, his heart beating a deranged rhythm that he felt against his chest multiple times every second. He still felt the aftermaths of the various assaults, though his body was in no physical pain. His blanket twisted around his body in an unsightly manner. He untangled himself, straightening his pillow. His eyes caught on the figure standing in the middle of his bedroom.

"Sasuke Uchiha," said Mei Terumi. She looked exactly the same as she did in the afternoon. "I'm not here to hurt you."

"What are you doing here?" To hell with politeness, and keeping cool.

"I came to apologize," said Mei. "I didn't know touching you could create such a reaction."

_What reactions?_ Sasuke ran his hands down his arms, and body, unable to believe that his body was unharmed. He was not sure if he preferred to wake up from those dreams alone, or in the company of a dead girl.

He didn't trust himself to say anything. He wanted to curl up into a tight ball, feel every inch of himself. Ensure that every inch was unscathed and unmarked. No gashing injuries and no rope around his neck. Instead, he cocked an eyebrow at Mei.

"Interaction with me made you hypersensitive to our presence and memories for time being," said Mei "It won't last more than a day."

Sasuke stared at her.

"We can't physically hurt you," said Mei. "Though, some stay so long they grow more powerful."

"Will you be one of them?" Sasuke asked. He was glad his voice came out unwavering.

"No. I'm departing this world," said Mei. Her smile shifted.

"I wish you the best of luck," said Sasuke. Generic was always correct, and he didn't know what to say. Too many thoughts were running through his mind. He wanted things to make sense.

Mei was smiling, a light grin, about to say her farewell, when her eyes suddenly bulged. Sasuke could see long, pale fingers wrapped around her throat, and she clawed at the fingers.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the image, a new tension rising in his body.

She screamed, again. It was a desperate, unearthly wail this time, before tendrils of shadows shredded her image.

Sasuke could see yellow, snakelike eyes and a pointed face behind her destroyed form before a small laugh echoed in his room.

The shadows were swirling rapidly now, as if under attack. Sasuke squeezed his eyes shut, pulling the blankets around himself tightly. He wondered where his cellphone was, if he could reach for help in time. At last, he heard a small, insidious laugh and his instincts told him that the danger passed. When he opened his eyes, his room was normal, without any trace of shadows or ghostly figures.

He fell back to his bed. It was only 12:20, and he knew he didn't want to fall sleep again. He desperately missed the nights where Itachi would always run into his room whenever he had a nightmare. Itachi always knew the right things to say, and he always knew the right explanations to the events going on.

Then, of course there was that one night, where Sasuke's shocked parents told him that Itachi died before he was born. The moment was ingrained to him forever as his childish mind raced to make sense of everything. Then Itachi came, explained the love that made him stay for his little brother, and departed.

Sasuke raised a hand to his forehead, the spot his _aniki _was fond of poking.

He had spent eight years with his dead brother, then ten years in the dark. He wanted closure, he though. He wanted to _know_. He also wanted something _solid_ in his world of intangible shadows, unaware friends, and grisly vivid dreams. He also felt that something terrifyingly different was going to happen. The yellow eyes were decidedly more frightening than his lucid dreams, and he _knew_ there was something wrong._  
_

He remembered Neji's offer of information, two months ago, when they discovered each other's secret. But when he asked the businessman for the price, Hyuuga responded slyly '_I don't know.'_

Neji Hyuuga knew, and Sasuke knew too. At that time, Sasuke thought it was not worth owing the Hyuuga a favor for information. The shadows hardly bothered him, and he didn't care. Now, things were changing. The terrors were evolving.

Neji Hyuuga's phone number took him exactly sixteen seconds to search up.

"Uchiha."

Sasuke guessed he wasn't surprised when Neji knew who was on the other end of the line before Sasuke spoke. He felt a kind of warped relief at the sound of another human's voice.

"Remind me about your offer," said Sasuke. He thought his voice shook, but he could easily blame it on the telephone connection.

"I will tell you all I know about our eyes and the dead," said Neji. Sasuke could hear running water on the other end. Neji paused, perhaps unsure how to voice his condition.

"In exchange, I will not refuse you when you want a favor," finished Sasuke. "Under the assumption that we are both reasonable men."

"You're better with words than I am," acquiesced Hyuuga.

"You live twenty minutes away," said Sasuke. "Be here in thirty minutes."

It was a gamble, Sasuke supposed as he hung up. As much as he wanted information, he was sick of the way Neji wafted through life, lubricated by his extraordinary ability to act. If Neji wanted to play, they would play. But Sasuke would call the shots.

He pulled the blankets tightly around himself again, staring blankly at the walls. The shadows were back, and they moved slowly but surely now. He envied the humans who were able to live a normal life, unbothered by the unusual movements. Sasuke would stay in bed until, and if the Hyuuga decided to accept, he suppose. If not, he would immerse himself in the new project for his company, utilizing statistics and models to ignore the visions.

Ten minutes later, the confused security guard rang his intercom, the buzz breaking through Sasuke's train of thought. "Uchiha-_sama_, someone is here by the name of Neji Hyuuga. Is he your guest?"

So Hyuuga liked to exceed expectations. He left his bed, and took a glance at the mirror. There was no point in dressing to impress the Hyuuga, but there was no point in looking disheveled either. Satisfied with the reflection, and ready to swallow honeyed cyanide, he pressed his finger on the machine to reply.

"Yes."

* * *

**A/N:** In a way, I'm not all too sure how to proceed with this. Neji & Sasuke & horror/ghost are so hard to write! I want badass interactions between them, but it would bring them out of character. I want some kind of intensity, but they're too cool. Not to mention, I need scary things to happen!

I should go off and write a simple high school AU or something. xD

Tell me what you think? (:


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